Market buzz: Pessimism remains on Cyprus news

Russian markets are likely to start Wednesday’s session in the red and continue declining later in the day. There is little chance of recovery. Indices are expected to rewrite the year’s low.

The March 19 session brought 0.9% loss to MICEX and 1% drop to
RTS. The metals sector suffered the most significant decline in
Tuesday’s session. Mechel, TMK, Severstal, Belon and NLMK papers
have lost from 2.3% to 3.5%. Macroeconomic prospects for the sector
are rather pessimistic on the latest data from the eurozone, where
the building has dropped by 1.4% year-on-year in January.

European stocks have been falling for a third day in a row on
Tuesday in fear that Cyprus would reject the one-off bank deposits
levy. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.4% at the close of trading.
National benchmark indices were down all over western European
markets. Only Ireland and Denmark sustained. The British FTSE 100
dropped 0.3%, Germany’s DAX fell 0.8% and France’s CAC 40 lost
1.3%.

A European group of creditors pledged yesterday to support
Cyprus weary economy despite the late Tuesday’s vote against the
deposit levy.

US stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, despite the anticipation of
news from Cyprus threatening to bring more turmoil across the
European financial system. S&P 500 was down 0.24% on the news
that Cypriot parliament voted against the revised deposit levy
meant to secure EU bailout loan. The NASDAQ lost 0.26%. Only the
Dow remained afloat with almost static trade.

European group of creditors pledged yesterday to support Cyprus
weary economy despite the vote against the deposit levy.

Today’s main news is expected from the US Federal Open Market
Committee, due to be announced by Ben Bernanke by the end of the
meeting. Monetary policy makers agreed at the previous meeting that
the rates should start climbing again as inflation and unemployment
figures improve.

Asia is mostly in the black on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei and
Shanghai Composite are adding more than 2% each. The Hang Seng is
up 0.9%. Positive macroeconomic data from the US and expectations
that the soft monetary policy in the US, Europe and Japan will
support the Asian stocks.